Fans of RPGs, grand adventures and all things sci-fi are in for an early holiday treat when the Xenoblade Chronicles X game launches exclusively for the Wii U console on December 4. The enormous game finds players exploring the planet Mira on a mission to rebuild humanity. The game is absolutely mammoth, featuring a gorgeous, seamless open world that lets players visit any location they see. Using a deep, highly customizable battle system, players can choose from a variety of special attacks and skills to take down enemies of all shapes and sizes – some as tall as skyscrapers! By earning a special license in the game, players can even pilot giant armed mechs to fly around the planet and engage with the toughest of enemies.
For those looking for a bit of the story, it’s the year 2054, Earth has been destroyed and the remaining humans face annihilation from an intergalactic war between two alien races. Xenoblade Chronicles X follows the story of the survivors from Earth on the mysterious planet of Mira. Players step into the role of a main character that can be customized with features like gender, facial components, clothes and hair. As players journey through the game, they will meet a large cast of engaging characters, some that will even join their party.
Mira itself is a vast world, composed of five massive continents, each with its own unique flora, fauna and weather. Players move seamlessly between these continents, with no loading times for the majority of travel in the game. Being able to travel to any location seen in the distance adds to the majesty and scope of the game. As the centre of human activity on Mira, New Los Angeles (NLA) is a large city composed of four distinct districts. Here, players can buy weapons, develop equipment or even visit cafés. The many citizens of NLA will even ask players to complete numerous quests, rewarding success with money, items and experience points.
You can check out our full review of the game RIGHT HERE.
To fully enjoy the physical (or disc-based) version of the game, players can download four free and optional High Speed Data Packs in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U to help with the game’s performance. The Basic Data Pack is the most effective of the four and speeds up load times for elements of the massive open game world. The Enemy Data Pack loads enemy data even faster, the Player Data Pack accelerates armor load times when changing equipment in shops, and the Skell Data Pack loads Skells faster when players are out in the field.
The physical game launches for Wii U in stores on December 4 at a suggested retail price of $74.99. Players that want to get a head-start can download the Data Packs from the Nintendo eShop now, but won’t be able to use them until the game launches. An external USB hard drive may be required to download these packs from the Nintendo eShop. To learn more about storage options, visit support.nintendo.com. The digital version of the game in the Nintendo eShop will come with the Data Packs built-in.